Welcome to the web site dedicated to the First Yale Unit and the documentary film
The Millionaires’ Unit: America’s Pioneer Pilots of the Great War.

Here you will discover the history of the elite group of Yale students who, in 1916, formed a privately funded air militia that became the nation’s first air coast patrol unit and whose members were among the first to ship overseas and fight for their country in World War I. The story of the First Yale Unit paints a representative picture of America coming of age in the 20th century and the American experience in the First World War.

Explore the people, places and imagery of the Unit and their world by selecting the FIRST YALE UNIT HISTORY menu above. To learn more about the documentary film, select THE MILLIONAIRES’ UNIT: DOCUMENTARY FILM menu.

We’re glad you found us, and we welcome you to join us on our journey.

Members of the First Yale Unit at West Palm Beach, Florida, spring of 1917.